This disclosure is directed to portable structures. While the descriptions of various embodiments are concerned generally with camping tents, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize the wider applicability of the inventive features disclosed hereinafter.
The prior art is replete with tent constructions all allegedly making it easy to at least erect the tent structure. Among those constructions are self-erecting popup tents and umbrella tents, for example. While the art in general makes erecting the tent relatively easy, folding the tent for storage is not often accomplished with the same ease. In addition, cost of the various mechanism employed in the tent construction is an important consideration. That is to say, both the initial cost for the parts themselves and their assembly must be reasonable, and the ability to replace parts of the tent frame which may become damaged in use must be easy to accomplish for warranty purposes.
This disclosure describes in one illustrative embodiment the use of a hub structure having a plurality of tent poles removably interconnected to the hub structure on one end of at least some of the poles. Each of the tent poles are assembled from a plurality of pole sections. The pole sections are interconnected for assembly and disconnected for storage. In any event, the pole sections and consequently the tent poles have a suitable shock cord associated with them which extends through the associated hub and connects to the oppositely opposed tent pole to define a tent pole pair 14. Depending on the tent size and/or configuration, the hub may have two, four, six or more pole pairs associated with it. The pole sections preferably are fiberglass and one end of the pole section preferably is attached to a funnel ferrule. As indicated, the pole sections, funnel ferrule and hub all have the shock cord extending through or associated with them. In erecting the portable structure, the pole sections are first assembled to form the tent poles. One end of each tent pole is inserted in an associated ground engaging foot arrangement and the opposite tent pole end is inserted into the hub. A feature of the construction is that the frame structure always is attached to the material forming the portable structure, commonly a tent. In any event, the funnel ferrule accepts the fiberglass pole section easily. The foot assembly structure is also attached to the tent material and holds the frame in place for easy set up. Because pole sections are interchangeable across a variety of designs, height variations in the designs are easy to accomplish merely by adding or subtracting pole sections from the tent poles of a tent design. Other components of the frame structure remain the same for any particular frame structure combination. As will be appreciated, because all of the components of the frame system are always attached to the tent material, loss of component parts is eliminated while replacement of individual components of the frame is accomplished easily. The structure is easy to set up for use and disassemble for storage.